Sunday, September 28, 2014

Apparently, I need to proof read a little better… but in
case I don’t, just do an auto-correct with your brain and put in or take out
the missing letters…deal?

This week has been pretty amazing. We did get to the Temple
in Johannesburg which was a marvelous experience. The temple is older than I
thought. It was dedicated in 1985. It’s a very small temple and yet very nicely
appointed. The grounds are lush and fitted with gardens full of small bridges,
pathways and water features. I really wish my back yard could look like the
grounds but then I’d have to move here permanently.

Elder Scott is finally starting to feel a little better. He’s
down to a horrible cough and occasional moments of dragging. I expect a full
recovery by tomorrow…really, he wants to start back to the gym so he’s anxious
to get back to normal.

The drive to Johannesburg is quite long…4 & ½ hours,
then add another 45 minutes to the mission office. About an hour into the
drive, I was stopped by the police for crossing over a double solid line…who
knew? It’s so interesting as the police drive small cars marked with green and
yellow. They do not pull you over with lights and sirens—they park on the side
of the road and flag you down by waving a clipboard at you. The officer was
very nice and after we talked and told him about the church and where we were
from and where we were going—to the temple—he let us go with a warning. That’s
twice now…once on the way to Zone Conference and now on the way to the temple.

Church was wonderful today. If you’ve never had the opportunity
to live in a small branch you should at least find one and attend once or
twice. The Primary program was scheduled for today. Wow! Did they do a great
job! Lots of little smiling faces who sang their hearts out. We only have about
14 children so they had to sing with gusto and they came through. It made me
cry it was so sweet.

I taught Gospel Doctrine, Elder Scott taught the youth class
and the missionaries taught Gospel Essentials class which is usually what ES
teaches.

I think my class went well and I know ES’s did. We had two investigators:
Combi and Violet.

Combi (I promised I would let you know regarding her
progress) is enjoying attending and was really welcomed today by everyone. She’s
going to Swaziland on Tuesday so the Elders are going to sacrifice a bit of
their P-day to teach her a lesson before she leaves. She told us today that she
wants to return before Sunday so she can attend church again.

Violet is the daughter or another investigator, Ezra, who
started bringing his granddaughter to Primary when he started to attend a few
months ago. The granddaughter loves Primary and was in the program today.
Violet wanted to see the Primary program and to attend church. She told the
missionaries that she knows the Book of Mormon is true and at last week’s
lesson, she bore her testimony to her father about prayer and the Book of
Mormon. During Relief Society, I shared an experience I had in the temple when
Christy and Will (my kids) were sealed. The RS President had asked me to share
some experiences about the temple and it just came into my mind. It’s one thing
to share with endowed members…or just members who know about Priesthood
blessings and etc…but it’s a totally different thing to have to explain those
things to investigators. I chose my words very carefully. After RS, Sister
Violet told Elder Scott that what I had shared really moved her. She felt very
different as I was relating what happened to me. Then she asked him, “What must
I do to go to the temple?” Is this person golden, or what?

Earlier in the week we went to the pharmacy (our favorite
Mopani) and while there asking a pharmacy tech a question about medicines, she
asked us if we were “the Hunts replacements?” We told her we were. She then
told us how wonderful they were and how happy she was to see us that day. She
then explained to us that she was having a problem with trying to decide
whether she should stay the course on her new decision or not. She said she’d
changed her employment recently and given up a high paying job due to having to
work on Sundays and be away from her husband so much. She’d decided that she
needed to pay more attention to “God and doing what he wants me to do instead
of pursuing wealth and fame.”

Well, we were in complete agreement but didn’t have any
Pass-along cards with us…oddly as we always have stacks of them so we told her
we’d be back with something just for her.

We spoke for about five minutes and then she said, “I am so
glad you came in today and spoke to me. I am committed to do what I’ve
resolved. I know God sent you to me to help me with this decision.”

So, this week we are going back to drop-off home baked
cookies and a Pass-along card about the family.

When you wear name badges missionary work is easy.

While in Joburg, we picked up a new car…not a New car…just a new to us car. It’s
really nice and I can almost guarantee that no Jr. Missionary ever drove that
car. It’s a 2004 Nissan something or other. Happy campers here.

That’s about it from South Africa. It has been a great week…rather
a short one and rather a quick one.

However, while at the temple yesterday and watching the
Primary children sing today I found another reason to rejoice over the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Speaking for myself—one who has never been out the States
before coming here—I forget sometimes how diverse the world is and how select
we think we are. Truly, white people are the minority in South Africa…it’s not
that there are not any because actually, there are quite a few—but in the temple
yesterday when there were only four pale faced people among an entire session
of chocolate colored people it puts it into proper prospective. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ levels all fields. With everyone wearing white clothing and
participating individually in their own salvation it is evident that no one is
superior and no one is inferior. Sadly, there are still a lot of whites here
who treat the blacks as their servants. But in the temple and in that wonderful
Primary Presentation there is no difference in Heavenly Fathers children. It
makes me weep tears of joy for the truth of the Plan of Salvation and how it
can work in each and every one of us. I know that we are all from the same
Eternal Father and I could not love these brothers and sisters here more than
if they were my own by mortal blood. I hope you will one day get the chance to
love the people of South Africa as they are very special children of Heavenly
Father.

And there are still no monkey's in my kitchen.

This is Elder Swan fixing Alfredo's roof in KaNyamazone

This is a view from Alfredo's home

Another view

This is another view of their house. Alfredo and his wife built this by hand with items they found around the Township. However the roof leaked quite badly so Elder Scott, Elder Swan and President Banta went to help Alfredo fix his roof.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Part 5

The start of another week and I have a new stove! Since we
have been in our flat I have not had an oven. It’s really been too hot to cook
but I would have made an exception as I’m dying for some really good cookies.
Walking through the store on the first week here, I spied and bought Oreos (my
favorite) only to discover that they just didn’t look right or taste exactly
the same. After reading the package I discovered they’d been manufactured in
Saudi Arabia! The cocoa is just not the same as the real Oreos at home. To
confirm that suspicion, one of our Elders received a box of Oreos from the
states. Totally different color. Ours are darker and richer looking as opposed
to the grayish color of the ones here.

Next I tried buying cookies from the bakery at Super Spar, a
grocery store that is quite impressive. They have four tables of nothing but
help-yourself cookies. I bought one of each. Sadly, all but two of the cookies,
including the chocolate chip cookie, had peanuts in them. Now, I like peanut
butter as well as the next person but when you bite into a meringue cookie you
do not expect to find peanuts and I particularly do not want peanuts in my
chocolate chip cookies. I can see why one of our Branch members asked me to
make Snickerdoodles for her. I’ll be making them for me as well.

We went to a store called Macro (the one like Sam’s Club—not
as big as Costco but bigger than a Wal-Mart) and bought a new stove. My old one
worked it just didn’t have a bottom heating element so all I could do was
broil… quite unusual or so I thought… They actually had brand new ovens with
only the top broiling element. I guess very few people bake. Kinda like New
York.

As I’m writing this, Elder Swan and Elder Scott are
installing the oven and the top burners called a “hob.” We took the Elders to
lunch at a shopping center called “Crossings” and I had chicken wings with BBQ
sauce on them while some had hamburgers or pizza. It was just okay food—in fact
if I didn’t know better I’d have sworn the chicken wings were really squab
wings based on the size.

But while I was there I went to the bank to get 2rand coins
for tipping purposes. Outside near the ATM a security guard in full military
uniform complete with flack-vest and automatic rifle stood guard. He looked
quite intimidating. This is not an unusual occurrence here but still unlike the
States.

This is one of our car parkers. A great feature that I’d
like to have at home. This is group we tip when they help us load our car and
back us out of our spaces in the parking lots.

Last night was an incredible landmark night! Lance,
Jennefer, Sophie, Avery and Riley actually Facetimed us using our iPads. Wow! !
was it ever good to see those smiling faces. We had a nice visit and Lance said
he wanted to go on record as being the first to communicate with us in that
manner. I’m just saying!

Today, Tuesday, we did not have our usual meeting with the
Branch President so we drove to Sabie to meet the Bethals who are an older
couple that live there. Of course we visited with the Weitz who also live
there. Then we ate a delicious lunch at Petras Pancakes. It was more like a
crepe as it was filled with ice cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup and sprinkled
with nuts. We had lunch and dessert all at the same time. (I’ll tell you about the Bethals later)

I have an amazing story to tell you.

(I’m paraphrasing some of this as the teller of this story
is a native African who repeats herself many times over and where English is
absolutely her second language.)

Martha joined the church in 1991. Shortly afterwards her
husband left her. Apparently in Africa a couple can divorce without cause and
without paperwork. Martha went to live with her sister in KaNeymazane who took
care of her because all Martha wanted to do was cry. Suddenly, Martha’s sister
decides to move to Johannesburg and as Martha doesn’t have the money to move
she is left behind. She has nowhere to live or sleep. She has no job, no money
and, now, no family. She wanders around sleeping wherever she can and begging
for food. After many months, she finds an empty plot of land and a large black
plastic bag. She decides to squat on this piece of land. Cutting the bag in
half, she uses one piece as a bed and one piece as a covering. It is now
raining all the time but she covers herself up at night on this piece of land.
It is called a “stand.” She lives like this for quite a long time.

Martha begins to have dreams where she sees people who come
to her and tell her to “Pray to Jesus.” At first she says “No!” She is crying
all the time and feeling very sorry for herself for her loneliness and her
poverty. But the dreams persist. Somehow, she said, she knew they were her
grandparents who had died many years ago. Finally, in extreme desperation she
does what they advise her and call out to Jesus. The next night she dreams of a
white man who told her he was her Great-Grandfather and that she must stay in
the stand and not leave. She is very afraid and tells the white man that he is
lying. She decides to leave the stand and search for someplace else to live but
that same night when she is sleeping, she dreams of this man again who tells
her to “stay in the stand.” She returns to her stand and “cries and cries” some
more due to fear, hunger and loneliness.

The next day Martha rents a cell phone (that’s another story
altogether) and calls her aunt to ask if they have a white grandfather? Her
aunt tells her that this is her grandfather’s father –a white German man.

The next time when she dreams of him again she asks him if
he really is her grandfather. He tells her that he is and that he loves her
very much but that she is not to leave the stand. In the dream he takes Martha
by the hand and tells her things will be “okay.”

Three days past and she has had nothing to eat. All she has
for warmth and shelter is that same plastic bag which is now very old and full
of holes. She is so hungry that she goes to her closest neighbor and begs for a
piece of bread. The neighbor gives her some bread but tells her that she cannot
give her more because she is saving the rest for the “Elders” who are coming to
dinner at her house.

Martha says, “Elders? What church do you go to that you have
Elders?”

The neighbor says, “I am a member of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Martha shrieks and cries, “So am I! Is there a church where
I can go?”

On Sunday, Martha walks barefoot several miles so she can
attend church with her neighbor. She is instantly welcomed, fed and clothed and
given blankets so she can stay warm. She lived like this for a few years until
a senior missionary couple arrived in KaNeymazane by the name of Hunt.

Martha continued to have dreams of her family and of this
German grandfather who continued to reassure her that everything would be “OK.”

During one dream she asked her grandfather, “Why must I stay
in this stand? I have nothing here.”

Her grandfather
explains that this stand is the place where he died. He told her that he fought
in the war (I think she meant the Boer War although she used an African name.)
Evidently, he was fighting along with eight Native warriors who were all killed
at this site. Four were buried on one side and the other four on the other
side. He told her that as long as she would live on her stand that these
warriors would protect her but when she died their job would be over.

Sister Hunt, the senior missionary sister, went to visit
Martha one day and discovered the appalling condition in which she lived. She
decided to do something about it. The first thing Sister Hunt did was to give Martha
a job cleaning her flat. Then she got her husband, Elder Hunt, to put in a pipe
with water. From that pipe grew a concrete block, concrete floored, two-room
home complete with simple furnishings. There is no indoor plumbing, no
electricity, or washing machine or clothes dryer.

Martha will probably never have much more than she does now
but she is a very happy woman who loves to serve the Lord. She has been endowed
in the Temple of the Lord. She loves to go to the temple and is saving money to
go back again as she can’t wait until the Branch goes this next January. She
knows the gospel and more importantly, she knows Heavenly Father loves her.

I am very honored to know Martha. She is our housekeeper and
every week I slip her a little extra for her temple savings account. This woman
is a very special daughter of God who is grateful for dreams and visions and
family history and a Heavenly Father who loves her and who sent angels to watch
over her…both angels from the other side and angels from here.

This is Martha... at the Swans (cool mirror, huh?)

Thank you Elder and Sister Hunt wherever you are.

What do a cat, a bird, a frog and a gecko all have in common?

Give up?

They have all been in our flat!

The very first day we opened the door to our first Nelspruit
flat a cat was inside enjoying the solitude of being in an empty apartment.
While we were moving in a bird flew in through our security door and panicked.
The cat was more savvy then the bird…it found its way out as quickly as it had
come in. I had to open the back slider to let the bird fly out. Just the other
night, a frog was in our utility room and man could it jump. Elder Scott got it
outside in one jump and it was down the stairs in another. Then today, (Thursday)
we found a gecko lurking on our ceiling in that same utility room where we
found the frog last night.

I’m not crazy about finding critters lurking about my flat…
but at least it isn’t monkeys.

I had a fun time this morning trying to convert measurements
from US to metric. Most all of my measuring cups and spoons have dual marks but
not butter. It is sold in large blocks-500 grams. With the help of the internet
site called conversion.com I nailed it and made super good Snicker Doodles and
chocolate chip cookies. The only chocolate chips I could find are small—about ½
the size of our own so 2 cups of chips really fill the cookies with chocolate. The
brown sugar is not what we are used to so I was worried but the cookies turned
out mucho delishy moso… That’s great tasting for all you exacting readers.

Last night the Jr. Elders and Elder Scott and I went to
teach a 9 year old named Thambiso. He is the son of a member and the brother of
Nelly who was baptized last month. I ended up giving a great part of the lesson
cause the Elders were having problems “dumm’n it down” to fit the understanding
of a 9 year old. Luckily, I felt impressed to bring two Liahona magazines which
had great stories for children in them. I referenced those stories and had
Thambiso relate what the Elders were teaching him to the stories. His 7 year
old brother was also there and they both asked good questions and wanted to
keep the magazines.

Right afterwards, Elder Scott and the two Jr. missionaries
went to teach a follow up lesson to a Father and daughter. I went home to cook
dinner for us all. The Jrs. had been going over their Area Book when they found
a man listed in there that had been to church a few times but then stopped
showing any interest. They called him and he said he’d like them to come by.
While they were visiting him his daughter came in and began listening. They
have both been going to church on Sundays for some time. Well, Elder Scott went
to visit Ezra and Violet. Almost immediately upon walking in the door, Violet
told them that she had prayed about the Book of Mormon and knew it was true.
She had read it before but not been too impressed but this time she decided to
pray, asking if Heavenly Father would tell her if it was true or not. She knew
it was. Ezra was asked to pray about it as well but he admitted that he didn’t
know how. Elder Scott taught him how to pray and ask if the things he was
learning about were true. He committed to do so and his daughter assured him
she would help him.

Elder Scott said it was one of the best missionary lessons
he’d ever been in. All the Elder’s came back beaming with joy.

On Thursday night we went to dinner at a member’s home who
had 5 dogs hanging around. Well behaved dogs…3 of them were hers and 2 were
being tended. Made me miss Jed.

On the way home—this was way in the country—we saw a Zebra
hanging out in someone’s yard. So absolutely cool. It was one super beautiful
animal and quite large for a Zebra. The ones I’ve seen have been the size of a
pony… this was horse size and a large horse at that

Today, (Friday) after our District Meeting (our Zone Leaders
visited and conducted) Elder Scott was invited to help the KaNemazane Senior
Elder Swan and the Branch President go to repair the roof of a family in that
Branch. They live on a hill that an ordinary car cannot navigate. The father
built the house with things he found along the road and in ditches but the tin
roof had many, many holes in it. With rain forecast for tomorrow, Elder Swan
didn’t think they could wait until their scheduled repair date of Monday. So
off the two of them went to fix the roof and buy some food. I spent a
half-a-day by myself reading, napping and baking a cake from scratch. Found a
good recipe on the internet… Did I mention I left my cook book at home? So if
anyone wants to send me some of my recipes I’d greatly appreciate it…especially
my banana cake and German chocolate frosting. Sounds really good about now.

I can’t believe it is Saturday already. I made a batch of
chocolate chip cookies, divided them into dozens and put them on paper plates
to deliver to members in the Branch. We found several home and popped in on
them. Who can turn away old people with cookies? After we visited several
around Nelspruit, we drove to Lydenburg to visit another family. Lydenburg is an
hour plus drive through the mountains and it was raining. We drove right
through a cloud and behind a logging truck which slowed us to about 18 ks an
hour… super slow in any measurement. After about 40 minutes of driving this
way, the clouds broke, we had a straight-away and I was able to pass the truck.
Before we looked for the address of the people we came to visit we stopped at a
Spur and had dinner. I have more photos of this Spur which is called the
Laramie Spur after Laramie Wyoming, I imagine. We found the family, the
Sibanyoni’s, dropped off the cookies and headed back making good time. It was a
long day.

Sunday came and for possibly the first time in my life, I
spent Sunday School and Relief Society time tending the kids in nursery. They
were darlings but I must admit I’d rather train lions than do that again. Okay
maybe not train lions but I’d really rather teach a class with older kids…like
the teenagers at least.

I’ve just baked a cake and it came out beautiful. Strange
instructions but I made it the way I normally do (packaged mix) and it looks,
smells and feels great to touch. Hopefully it will taste great as well. I’m
making my chocolate strawberry cake or as it has become to be known in Lone
Peak Ward: the funeral cake.

Well, enjoy the photos.

this is the basket that I bought in order to get directions. I bought the rhino from the second hand store in Sabie

this is how drinks come. we have to ask for ice separately and there are no refills.

this is the grocery store where we like to shop.

this is the drug store and another mall we like. Mopani is a chain and there is also one in the strip mall above. This is a very large mall with tons of stores.

Some more parker guys. They call me "momma" and asked me to buy them something to drink and eat. I did and now they are my friends for life! I try to always park in their area.

this is a cup I bought for Christy. It is Constantina fine china and I will try to get it home in one piece

this is our Branch President... Milton Manjate. He is from Mozambique originally.

This is a view from his family room window. He often has Kudu running in the back

This is Elder Scott's gym where he goes every morning

this is our Favorite Spur called Arkansas. The guy in the orange & black shirt is backing someone out

This is the entrance

see all the American Indian décor

Perusing the menu

more views

this is our favorite waiter name Ndombia. We talked to her the first time we went in and gave her a pass along card. She has had one lesson from the Elders in KaNemazone where she lives

this is a logging truck. see how straight the trees are planted. this is part of the largest man planted forest. These trees are smaller than some

these next pix are from another Spur called Laramie which is in Lydenburg

This is a township. Some of the pix are blurry but it gives you the idea of what a township is

This is the view from the driver's window as we are leaving the township.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

This is part 4 and I’m so excited I have learned to transfer
photos from the iPad to the computer.

Now if I learn to take descent pictures you’ll see what I’m
talking about!

One note of importance thanks to my friend Maegan Langer who
spent some school time here in South Africa… the Africans who are called Afri -cons
are spelled Afrikaans. Makes sense. Thanks
Maeg!

On the Saturday that we drove to see two families in the
Branch (see the info above about Hazyview) who live a great distance from
Nelspruit, we drove past the largest man-made forest in the world. Evidently
they plant these pine-type of trees that grow 40 feet tall and harvest them for
wood products. You can tell they have been planted by man as opposed to
Heavenly Father because he doesn’t plant in exact rows. I tried taking photos
of them but from a distance they just look like rows and rows of regular ole
trees… also, Heavenly Father tries to add a bit of variety to the forests.
These trees are all the same kind.

We returned again to Sabie and got to see a bit more of it.
I have taken pix of the Weitze family and their place so you can see the beauty
that surrounds them. We are going back often to breathe in the surroundings and
also to see the falls (not to mention we are the Weitze home teachers) after it
rains. It has not rained and it should have by now. It is getting hotter with
today being in the upper 80s. One day last week it was 92… I’m not happy about
that since we only have fans circulating the hot air.

Last Monday we were in the Mopani Pharmacy trying to get our
prescriptions filled and a tall, Afrikaans man spoke to Elder Scott saying, “Elder
Scott. How are you? I have just moved here from ???? and am looking for a
church.”

Elder Scott thought he was a member who had just moved into
our area and was looking for the Branch to attend… Well, as it turned out he
was a man searching for a church to attend. Sadly, we didn’t know the address
of the Branch and even sadder than that no one we contacted did either. We
tried to explain how to get there but to no avail as he was new to the area.
Content with giving us his phone number and email address we left him
determined to find out the address of the church building.

We tried everything we could think of to find the Branch
address… the church doesn’t even show a listing for the Branch and we must pay
the rent on something but our Mission Office only had coordinates for the
location. (Some people travel by coordinates) So, Elder Scott and the Jr.
Missionaries drove to the church building, hit our GPS for the location and it
told us the address of the downstairs office building which is the same as
upstairs which is where we meet. No one has mail boxes so it really doesn’t
matter that we are the same as the businesses downstairs.

So our address is #10 De Waal Street, Upstairs, Nelspruit,
South Africa!

Yay!

The last week was highlighted by going to Zone Conference in
Pretoria 3 ½ hours away from Nelspruit. We had to leave the day before and get
a room in Pretoria so we didn’t have to leave at 1 a.m.

I have pictures of where we stayed. It is a guest house … a
B&B as they have very few hotels and no motels. We had a King-sized bed and
air conditioning! We were in heaven. We stopped at this amazingly good fish restaurant
in a town without a name…at least to us and drove to our lovely get a way
resort. Felt like a VIP staying in this place… about a $100.00 a night which
included a full English breakfast.

We learned a few Afrikaan words. Here goes… Ja Neer = Yes,
no… or whatever! It’s pronounced Ya Near…To say thank you very much you say something that sounds like… “buy a
donkey” Only its really “danke” almost like the German “danke “ for thanks… a
bit softer sound.

I also gave away 3 Book of Mormons… Only in Swati, one in
Zulu and one in English. The next day, the guy I gave the Swati book too asked
for one in English but Elder Scott has notched his belt for that one. I was
able to give the first discussion about who God is and who Jesus Christ is and
about the restoration of the gospel. I think I have planted seeds only since
these humble people live a long taxi ride away from the Ward building in
Pretoria and mostly due to the hotel business will probably work on Sundays but
seeds have been planted. Who knows… if they read the Books they may become
converted and make the sacrifice to attend. We will definitely stay there again
for our next Zone Conference.

Zone Conference was great and quite laid-back… Didn’t feel
pressured. Our Mission President is such a great man who is filled with the
Saviors love and it was evident at this Zone Conference.

Sunday was back to church again. Our 4th Sunday
here. It doesn’t really seem possible that time is passing so quickly. We have
passed our 30 day mark. Before we know it we will be coming home. Wow!

I had a phone call last night from my team-teacher asking if
I could teach the lesson to the youth. Of course, I said I would be delighted.
She is a doctor and had to work last night. I only had 6 in class this week but
what a fun, dedicated group this was. We are learning about commandments. I
taught how the 10 Commandments could be grouped into the 2 great commandments…
See it for yourselves. It’s really cool.

Then as I entered the Relief Society room, I was asked to
teach the lesson today on the Sealing Power. Wow. I glanced at the book, said a
prayer in my heart and the Holy Ghost took over. I told several stories and
explained why we do family history and why we are sealed together. Not one
person in the class had what we would call an “ideal family life” so I
explained why we teach the “ideal” even though most people really live that
way.

After we came home, I fixed a traditional Scott family
(Elder Scott’s favorite meal) of hamburger steak, mashed potatoes (from real
potatoes mind you) and gravy, canned corn and fresh carrots and rolls.

It was really great even if I did use all my pots and pans
and half the dishes I own. It also took me 1 ½ hours to make that dinner. And
the rolls were store bought- left over from Zone Conference.

Also… just by way of fun things. Last week when I went
grocery shopping, I bought some already mixed and raised bread dough and made
scones for the Elders who had never had them and for our housekeeper who had
never even heard of them. They all want to learn how to do it.

Another thing of note. We had to switch bedrooms. It has
gotten warm and due to the Eastern Sun exposure of our bedroom that room was
hot from morning until night with it being unbearable to sleep in. I noticed
that our second bedroom with 2 twin beds and an ironing board in it was 10
degrees cooler. So being the creative people we are, we duck taped the beds
together, turned our mattress topper sideways as well as our bedspread and we
now have a summer bedroom which is quite cool…temperature wise. We’ll move back
into our other bedroom in the winter when we desire a bit more warmth… but that
extra-large bed is sure nice…We moved
our desk into our living room entry hall… and I’m sitting here in the cool
breezes enjoying the Hawaii-type temperatures sans the humidity right now
anyway.

And I am happy to report that I still do not have monkey’s
in my kitchen.

The following are just pix. I'll learn how to put them where I need them next time. There were just too many to try to maneuver. I've captioned them.

the stairs to our flat in Nelspruit

they pick up garbage daily. Our door is the one on the right

Our car on the right

One of our security guards

a couple of tropical plants that grace our gardens

a few neighborhood children

I think Dr. Seuss designed this tree

Our front gates

the back of our upstairs flat

we have screen on the opening to stop the pest and the birds from flying in... yes they do. Already had one come in.

Our view and behind our flat

front door with the security door

front room

kitchen and door to broom closet

stove top

patio

screen on our terrace

Living room

Summer bedroom

bath

South Africa we are up in the right hand corner

Our first flat in Johannesburg...the bedroom and back door.

the other side

the wardrobe and desk

kitchen

living room

front door with security door

ready to leave

bathroom

very strange shower

typical wall switch that operates the plugs

notice the three kinds of plugs... 3 different ones and you use all three for various products

another angle of the living room No its not a fireplace

outside the front door

Our handyman, Dennis, the housekeeper (not ours) and her grandson

the alley to get to our flat in the back

the front of the house...not ours the owners

their swimming pool

Now we are in Nelspruit with Elder Ah Wong... How's this for unusual... He's from New Zealand. He is part Chinese and part Samoan. He said it is very common. Thus the Ah part is Samoan and the Wong is the Chinese part. Really.

Those two are our Elders and the blond is our mission Mom, Sister Dunn. This was taken our first Sunday in Nelspruit Branch.

This is the baptismal font a the end of our building. We also had a birthday party for the baptized boy. He is also our neighbor living behind our flat in the same complex.

This is Sean who turned 8 and was baptized

Par tay time

Another friend of Seans

A member of our branch named Nelly

Our Branch. I'm in there somewhere

Another party to say Good-bye to our former Branch President

Elder Ah Wong and Sister Jennifer, the RS President

from the car window

A view on the road

the local 7-11 type of store

a township house with a water Jo Jo (the green thing)

a few township houses under constuction

another car view or two or three

a school

a view

towships

Sister Jennifer and her granddaughter. A grandmother is called a go-go... yep as in boots and dancers...

She charges the local kids money to use the tramp...

her view of the fruit orchards and her neighborhood in Hazyview

the next door people are building a house

Cinni inside the only wooden house we have seen in SA

Banana trees

the blue bags hanging from them catch the ripe bananas and protect them from the birds and monkeys

the forest... with its man planted trees which cannot be seen but it stretches as far as the eye can see

car view

No idea what this is????

Where I bought the basket

views

Sister Weitze

Sarah Weitze

their house and view

the Swan's flat kitchen

Elder Swan (the ones from Canada)

Elder Scott lounging

Swan's corner of paradise...their patio with a built in Braai (BBQ) We also have one but probably will not use it...

the fish restaurant we stopped at. They ordered a bottle of water and it comes in a 1.5 ltr. fancy bottle. You have to order ice separately as they do not usually serve it with your drink

Elder Scott being hungry

Our room in the Guest house in Pretoria

fancy huh?

Outside view of gardens and the like

our patio by our room

right outside our door

the lobby

dining room

the man, Elias, who I gave the first discussion and the relaxation room

Yay! Our building and our Elder McClellan who is from Washington State... Only member of his family. He joined 3 1/2 years ago and his grandmother kicked him out of her house... she was raising him as his parents abandoned him at 12 years old. Great guy! Strong testimony.

Here's Elder Ah Wong again

both of them and our sign

Our members

Primary room

the building from the top of the stairs. Yay! #10 De Waal, Upstairs, Nelspruit (pronounce the W as a V)

NYC: Murder Brooklyn Style

NYC: A Mission To Die For

About Me

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